Kandoloh
Shohin
hey yall I was just wondering if live oaks can be air layered? I have read most oaks don't do well from cuttings, how about air layer?
Oak air layer?
- Thread starter Kandoloh
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Cypress187
Masterpiece
I think dead oaks are hard to airlayer, so live one's would be preferred 
Kandoloh
Shohin
Haha well yea! Ok more specifically Quercus virginiana.I think dead oaks are hard to airlayer, so live one's would be preferred
aml1014
Masterpiece
Do some research the only way to propagate an oak is from none other but the walnut.
Kandoloh
Shohin
I did but thought I would ask here too. I will be collecting some acorns this fall
PaulH
Omono
Coast live oaks air layer well but some oaks just seem to callus but don't form roots.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Only one way to find out, try it. Take notes. Also, don't give up. I air layered a couple JBP, and at least twice it took two years to form roots. First year I got callus. I re-stripped the reforming cambium after the first year, packed in fresh moss, and then the second year roots formed. So don't give up after only 3 months. I waited 24 months.
I tried to air layer a JWP 'Arakawa' - calloused nicely right away, 4 years and no sign of roots, I gave up and cut off the top.
I tried to air layer a JWP 'Arakawa' - calloused nicely right away, 4 years and no sign of roots, I gave up and cut off the top.
Robert E Holt
Shohin
From "The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation": "Live Oak has been successfully propagated from cuttings..." "Cuttings taken from young trees root more readily...", "Cuttings taken during the early, warm days of October (Texas) root equally with those taken in May to August period. Cuttings taken during the colder months of November to March failed to root."
The book does not mention "air-layering" for Oaks.
The book does not mention "air-layering" for Oaks.
0soyoung
Imperial Masterpiece
The mother plant supports a layer by supplying water and mineral nutrients to the foliage and other living tissues of the layer (i.e., the xylem is left intact). A cutting has to survive on its own.
Otherwise, the process of growing roots is the same. Photosynthate and axin produced by the foliage and apical meristem accumulate at the base (of the cutting or top of the layer girdle). This causes root intials to form from cambium cells which then develop into roots.
Basically, with a layer, one just needs to be patient. With a cutting one must be careful, precise, and lucky. If it is known to root, it will layer - just be patient. It isn't necessary to use rooting hormone with a layer. It is, generally speaking, an essential kick-start for cuttings.
Otherwise, the process of growing roots is the same. Photosynthate and axin produced by the foliage and apical meristem accumulate at the base (of the cutting or top of the layer girdle). This causes root intials to form from cambium cells which then develop into roots.
Basically, with a layer, one just needs to be patient. With a cutting one must be careful, precise, and lucky. If it is known to root, it will layer - just be patient. It isn't necessary to use rooting hormone with a layer. It is, generally speaking, an essential kick-start for cuttings.
AppleBonsai
Shohin
George Muranaka air layers oaks all the time... http://www.muranakabonsai.com
Txhorticulture
Chumono
If it is a native oak your live oak is likely quercus fusiformis (escarpment live oak - named for the balcones escarpment in central texas) very similar to quercus virginiana
As for propagating it by cuttings or air layer the dirr book mentioned above (at least my edition) doesn't describe the method they used to root the cuttings, only that it was done froM a green house plant that was once a rooted cutting and maintained in a greenhouse. That tells me they root in very low numbers and juvenility is a factor. (Seedlings or saplings root much more easily). oaks in general are hard to clone.
As for the air layer. I confess I know very little about it. It's mostly a bonsai propagation thing. I'll let someone else jump in
Kandoloh
Shohin
I don't think it's native, but I'm not sure, they look so similar it's hard to tell as a novice.
Txhorticulture
Chumono
It doesn't really matter most people in texas don't even realize the distinction exists and it's not like you'll be able to find more specific propagation information about q. Fusiformis.
I wonder when the best time to air layer an evergreen oak in mild climate is?
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
I've had a Q. fusiformis bonsai for a while. I've not tried to air layer it or take cuttings from it. However, what I have noticed is that it throws clone shoots from its roots quite readily and reliably every year from specific sites on the surface.This tendency to throw root clones is noted in the species in the field. Q. fusiformis forms "motts," or genetically identical stands of individual trees--there's one pictured above. Those shoots are living on the "mother" tree's roots initially, but make their own over time.
That means, if you're patient, you could look around the surrounding root zone of a large live oak for smaller trees or shoots. Dig around the bottom of those to see if there are enough roots to support it, then remove it.
FWIW, advice on oaks is nice, but the vast majority of folks who grow bonsai aren't all that familiar with southern live oaks. What works for other oaks in other U.S. locations might not work with q. fusiformis or q. virginiana.
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Txhorticulture
Chumono
Yep it sends up shoots froM the roots quite a bit. When I bought this house and started taking care of the lawn I remember thinking. Damm there are a lot of oak tree seedlings around my oaks. Of course I mow them over and they shoot right back up. Mow them again a week later and they shoot right back. Now if they were seedlings they would not keep coming back, don't have enough energy stored up.
I wouldn't say they are clones of the parent tree. Might be more accurate to say they are the parent tree they are still connected.
Aspen do this too. Arguably the largest single living thing in the world is one huge stand of aspen that is one enormous root systeM with hundreds or thousands of trees growing from it.
I wouldn't say they are clones of the parent tree. Might be more accurate to say they are the parent tree they are still connected.
Aspen do this too. Arguably the largest single living thing in the world is one huge stand of aspen that is one enormous root systeM with hundreds or thousands of trees growing from it.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
They are clones--they become genetically identical trees.
ColinFraser
Masterpiece
I think he's just trying to make the distinction that "clone" usually refers to an independent organism that is genetically identical, so if you remove one of those runners, it would be a clone, but while its attached it's more like an appendage of the parent tree. A branch is genetically identical to the trunk, but you don't call it a "clone" unless you cut it off
. It's just an interesting semantic question. I think you mean acorn.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
Also if you wait long enough, you come up with something like my live oak bonsai. It was collected from a mott group in the Texas scrub. The twisty trunk would fit with the twisted trunks in the mott photo above.
ColinFraser
Masterpiece
Haha, yep; excellent.
Still a fuzzy line though. Do suckers count; if so, how big do they have to be? What about twin trunks? Does a ground-touching rooted branch count as a clone right away, and do people mean something different colloquially when they use that word . . . ?
Edit: BTW, I'm just playing advocate for a mythological character
